Exod. x. 25 sqq., and also from the fact that [Hebrew: lihvh] is
frequently omitted. The phrase is used with a reference to idolatry in
2 Kings xvii. 32; 2 Chron. xxiv. 7.--2. It cannot be proved that
[Hebrew: hbel], in the singular and with the Article, could be used for
"statues of Baal."--3. By this explanation we lose the striking
contrast between that which the Israelites _were doing_, and that which
they _were to do_. That which the Lord gave to them, they consecrated
to Baal, instead of to Him, to whom alone these embodied thanks were
due. And, not satisfied in withdrawing from the true God the honour and
thanks which were due to Him, they transferred them to His enemy and
worthless rival,--a proceeding which bears witness to the deep
corruption of human nature, and which, up to the present day, is
continually repeated, and must be so, because the corruption remains
the same. It is substantially the same thing that the Israelites
dedicated their gold to Baal, and that our great poets consecrate to
the world and its prince the rich intellectual gifts which they have
received from God. The words, "and she knew not," in both cases show
that they are equally guilty and equally culpable. He who bestows the
gifts has not concealed Himself; but they on whom they are bestowed
have shut their eyes, that they may not see Him to whom they are
unwilling to render thanks. They would fain wish that their liberal
benefactor were utterly annihilated, in order that they may not be
disturbed in the enjoyment of His gifts by a disagreeable thought of
Him,--in order that they may freely use and dispose of them, without
being obliged to fear their loss,--and in order that they may be able
to devote them, without any [Pg 243] obstruction, to a god who is like
themselves, who is only their own self viewed objectively (_ihr
objectivirtes Ich_). Parallel to the passage before us, and, it may be,
formed after it, is Ezek. xvi. 17, 18: "And thou didst take thy
ornament of My gold and of My silver which I gave thee, and madest to
thyself images of men, and didst commit whoredom with them. And thou
tookest thy broidered garments, and coveredst them, and My fat and Mine
increase thou gavest before them." _Hitzig_ understands, by the Baal
here, the golden calf, appealing to the fact that the real worship of
Baal had been abolished by Jehu. But no proof at all can be adduced for
the assertion that the name of Baal had been transferred to the go